As it happened: A new Slovenian star is crowned and the red jersey plays his cards on stage 12 of the Vuelta a España

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 12 of the Vuelta a España!

Matilda Price

I'm Matilda and I'll be guiding you through the stage today, which looks to be a tough one and potentially exciting for the GC.

I'll be keeping an eye on the comments and chatting with you so if you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to drop them below.

Here's what's on the menu today

Basically, LOTS of climbing. 4,475m of elevation gain and 62.2km of categorised climbing, to be precise.

One abandon to report already this morning: Ben Tulett won't be starting.

He crashed a few days ago so will head home. The British climber hasn't really had the Vuelta he might have hoped for, but Visma-Lease a Bike still have former winner Sepp Kuss in the GC conversation.

Speaking of crashes, here's the latest update on Pogačar after he crashed out of the race last Saturday.

It's back to the GC action after what was a fairly tame sprint day yesterday. If you missed out on any of that stage, here's the report and results.

Roll-out at 13:00 CEST

The riders will start in just over 15 minutes, with a short neutral and the official start slated for 13:07 local time.

They'll be climbing almost straight away, with the official start of the Alto del Cabecico coming 8km into the stage.

Looks like Ethan Hayter won a trophy and a prize of bananas at the start this morning. I wish I could tell you what that was for...

Oh, Hayter's prize is for the most combative rider on stage 11.

How did I not know until today that the prize for that is bananas?!

A hot day in Spain

It's about 32° C at the start today, so riders are trying to keep cool. We've really had every type of weather in this Vuelta. Remember the hail storm?

Primož Roglič just gave the most Primož Roglič interview to the host broadcasters.

They asked him if he would prefer if today was a breakaway.

Neutral roll-out

The peloton have just rolled away from the start line for a short neutral section.

3 riders DNS on stage 12

A couple of other riders didn't start today, alongside Tulett:

• Lindsay De Vylder (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
• David González (Pinarello Q36.5)

We're tracking all the abandons throughout the race if you want to know who else has dropped out so far.

Official start

Off they go!

166.6km and over 60km of uphill to come.

Fuelled by his bananas, Ethan Hayter is the first rider to try to attack as the break formation begins.

EF Education-EasyPost are throwing plenty of riders into the mix here. Them, Tudor, Uno-X all clearly want to be in the break.

Crash

Small crash in the bunch, Fredrik Wahndal (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) went down but was back up and riding quickly. Tense in the peloton though.

No break yet, but we're only 6km in.

Alto del Cabecico (8.4km at 3.3%)

Start of the climb. It's long-ish but a pretty gentle gradient. It's steeper near the top.

Wout van Aert is getting involved now. He's after green jersey points mainly, but he's also close enough to the lead of the mountains jersey that that could be of interest to him too...

He's not going to win that jersey but it would be nice to wear it.

Jay Vine gave a kind of avoidant interview to Eurosport. Saying he's not feeling good, but he doesn't know why. He didn't want to say much.

Vine is struggling at the back, whilst his teammate Oliveira is off the front with a couple of riders. Still not an established break as we approach the top of the climb.

Plenty of riders have been in the action today.

Gregor Muhlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM) stopped and got off his bike, and also started taking his shoe off. Not sure if he's needing a bike change or a shoe change...

Up front, Eddie Dunbar (Pinarello Q36.5) is leading the way in trying to get into the break, but nothing is sticking yet.

KOM: Alto del Cabecico (cat. 3)

Wout van Aert wins maximum points with a little sprint over the top.

1. Van Aert – 3pts
2. Buitrago – 2pts
3. Sivakov – 1pt

Van Aert and Buitrago have just chipped off the front of the peloton with that KOM effort.

20km done, Van Aert and Buitrago are reeled in. The breakaway battle starts anew.

Van Aert isn't having a bad Vuelta, but his own team admitted that he does need to win for himself at some point. Today is probably too hard, but it's still good to see him in the mix.

A new move has a pretty decent gap.

Alexey Lutsenko (NSN), Axel Laurance (Netcompany Ineos) and Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech).

Abandon

Young Aussie Hamish McKenzie (Jayco AlUla) has quit after crashing yesterday.

The three leaders have a bigger gap that anyone has had today, but I'm not sure three is a big enough break for today. I would say too many teams will be chasing behind for this to be able to stick.

We've got just over 20km of rolling road now before the next categorised climb.

Various riders are trying to chase across to our three leaders.

Crash

Oscar Onley looks to have come off heavily round a roundabout, his white jersey is covered in dirt from the road. He's remounted his bike and he's chasing back on.

Luke Tuckwell also went down, and a rider from Picnic PostNL.

No teammates with Onley just yet. He's just drafting behind the Ineos car.

Oof just saw the replay of the crash. Onley just slid out on the exit of the roundabout, landing on a patch of grass outside a Lidl. Looked heavy by the grass will have softened the blow.

The Scot got a nice word of encouragement and a push from his former Picnic teammate Timo Roosen.

Onley and fellow chasers are a minute down on the peloton because the bunch are going at full pelt now. They'll be able to get back on but it's not ideal.

Amazing landscapes in Andalucía.

Back to the front of the race, our three leaders have just been joined by a large group of chasers – over 20 of them. Big group at the front now.

The gap is still small. Teams will have to asses who has made it and who hasn't before they decide if this big move is going to be allowed to go.

Van Aert is in this 27-rider front group. But I think they're about to be caught and the situation will reset once again...

Seems I spoke prematurely – the peloton is slowing up so I think this break of 27 will be our move of the day.

I'll list the full names when we have them.

Oscar Onley is back in the peloton, so Ineos can relax briefly now.

The peloton are going almost comically slow now, letting the gap go out to a minute.

Some riders in this break don't seem to want to be in such a big group. A few of them are trying to get away in a smaller break.

120km to go

Oscar Onley is visiting the medical car.

Check the widget above for a list of names in the break.

Here's the names in the break:

1. L. Tuckwell (RBH)
2. J. Almeida (UEX)
3. I. Oliveira (UEX)
4. K. Vermaerke (UEX)
5. P. Castrillo (MOV)
6. J. Arcas (MOV)
7. W. van Aert (TVL)
8. L. Bisiaux (DCT)
9. E. Dunbar (PQT)
10. J. Haig (NCI)
11. A. Laurance (NCI)
12. P. Bilbao (TBV)
13. S. Buitrago (TBV)
14. J. Omrzel (TBV)
15. L. Kämna (LTK)
16. R. Rochas (GFC)
17. L. De Vylder (APT)
18. H. Houle (APT)
19. R. Debruyne (APT)
20. A. Lutsenko (NSN)
21. M. Vansevenant (SOQ)
22. T. Johannessen (UXM)
23. A. Kron (UXM)
24. A. Leknessund (UXM)
25. F. Pickering (JAY)
26. V. Albanese (EFE)
27. M. Brenner (TUD)
28. H. Mulubrhan (XAT)
29. U. Berrade (EKP)

The biggest GC threat in the group is Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) who sits at 8:05 down on Enric Mas, so Movistar will have to keep this somewhat controlled.

The gap is approaching three minutes currently.

Pretty impressive to see Tuckwell in this break after crashing today. He crashed last weekend too.

Movistar are on the front of the bunch.

Alto de Cóbdar (4.9km at 4.5%)

There is a chasing group in between the peloton and the break – it's made up of Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL) and José Manuel Díaz (Burgos Burpellet BH).

They're about a minute behind the break.

Díaz and Hamilton have joined the break. Sivakov hasn't made it. Should be 30 riders in the lead now.

Correction, Sivakov has made it, so 31 in the lead. Tracker is showing him as behind but we can see he is in the break.

KOM: Alto de Cóbdar (cat. 3)

Van Aert wins maximum points again. He really is keen to go after this jersey, but he's only made up 2 points in his 11-point deficit to Buitrago.

1. Van Aert – 3pts
2. Buitrago – 2pts
3. Bilbao – 1pt

Here's a look at Wout van Aert in the break.

Who do you think will win today? Break or peloton? Let me know in the comments.

Images of Onley's crash, in case you missed it.

Sivakov confusion again. It was not him that we could see joining the break... He's actually given up and waited for the peloton.

The gap has just reached five minutes.

Collado García (18.8km at 2.4%)

Buitrago is pushing on in the front of the break, trying to whittle things down a bit.

Riders like him will be hoping they can get rid of Omrzel, because that will give a smaller break a better chance of winning the stage.

Van Aert, Almeida, Lutsenko, Bisiaux and Kron are with him.

100km to go

Still a lot of action and climbing to come today.

That early attempt to split up the break hasn't really worked, still a big group all together at the base of this long climb.

Bahrain are understandably taking a lot of responsibility in the break. They have KOM points and GC positions to gain.

If you're looking for something to read whilst the race is relatively calm, I spoke with Paul Seixas yesterday about his upcoming races.

Still 11km left of this climb to go. It hasn't been too eventful so far.

90km to go

It's deceptively calm right now. Still two really big climbs to come after this one.

The gap is up to six minutes now. How much elastic are the peloton going to give this break? At what point does it come un-closeable?

With two such long climbs left, a lot can change in the finale, so six minutes definitely isn't too much to close, but I wonder what Movistar's strategy is here.

Woooops Luke Tuckwell nearly crashed into a soigneur in the feed zone there. Just about avoided disaster.

KOM: Collado García (cat. 2)

Van Aert and Buitrago go head to head for the points and WVA wins it again.

1. Van Aert – 5pts
2. Buitrago – 3pts
3. Bilbao – 1pt

Van Aert has 30 points in the KOM classification now, and Buitrago has 38.

Van Aert and Buitrago are on their own on the descent again, just pushing on after that KOM sprint.

70km to go

Van Aert and Buitrago have 20 seconds on the rest of the break, and 6:40 on the peloton.

Enjoying our live race coverage? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for an all-access pass to our unrivalled reporting of WorldTour racing, bike tech and exclusive in-depth features. Plus, access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on-the-go!

I think Van Aert and Buitrago have just agreed to slow up and wait for the rest of the break to rejoin them.

Our leaders have been swept back up by the break.

60km to go

Gap is coming down ever so slightly. The road will head uphill soon, though the Alto del Velefique doesn't officially start for another 15km.

The break aren't really working that well together anymore. Some riders are committed and taking their turns but others are not quite sharing the load.

Elsewhere in the cycling world, stage 2 of the Tour of Britain Men just finished.

You can read our report here (no spoilers just in case you're avoiding the results...)

Mas is looking comfortable but alert in the red jersey in the peloton.

The gap is nearly seven minutes now. Still 30 riders in the front – no one has really been dropped.

Movistar are riding at their own pace on the front of the bunch, not really chasing.

Jakob Omrzel is getting pretty close to the virtual lead now.

Movistar don't seem to care that much right now – they can be confident that the gap own't be eight minutes at the end of the day – but they might think they can lure other teams into doing some work.

Alto de Velefique (13.1km at 7.2%)

Starting the penultimate, cat. 1 climb. There's bonus seconds at the top of this one, and the intermediate sprint is in a few kilometres.

Sprint: Velefique

Almeida and UAE are setting a pace here which is finally putting some riders in trouble and beginning to make the selections in this group.

No trouble for Van Aert though, who takes 20 pts at the sprint.

Van Aert has sat up and is now going backwards fast. Mission accomplished for him, extending his lead in green and grabbing some bonus KOM points.

Almeida is still grinding away on the front. Does this mean he's working for Vermaerke instead of himself, or is he just the strongest rider in this group?

Aular pulls out of the Movistar line-out, so there's just Mas and one teammate left on the front of the peloton.

Almeida is still going

He's just shedding riders behind him. Really strong ride on this climb. Vermaerke is on his wheel.

40km to go

8.8km left of this climb, and then there's the 17km Calar Alto still to come.

At present, Omrzel is in virtual second, behind only Mas...

Nice shot of Van Aert and Buitrago from earlier.

Almeida has pulled off and gone out the back of the break.

GC group is shrinking

Despite Movistar's depleted numbers, they've clearly been riding hard on the front of the bunch as they've been really whittling down the GC group, lots of riders going out the back.

They haven't made too big of a dent in the gap, though, because of Almeida's huge effort.

Bilbao and Buitrago are pushing on at the front of the break.

Bilbao's efforts have pulled out a small group: Buitrago, Lutsenko, Bisiaux, Verkmaerke, Haig, Berrade and Tuckwell.

Iván Romeo is putting in a serious pull in the peloton. Lots of riders struggling to live with the pace.

Once Romeo is done, Mas will be alone in that group, but he has teammates up the road that he can reunite with.

Carapaz attacks 5km from the top

Fewer than 20 riders in the GC group.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) launches a big attack!

Big bold attack from Carapaz, he went speeding out of the group.

Carapaz is speeding past dropped break riders – Ivo Oliveira even handed him a bottle – and he's 30 seconds ahead of Mas and co.

There's been a regrouping up front, 15 riders in the lead just now.

Evidence of that monster effort from Almeida.

Omrzel has just chipped off the front of the break, with Bisiaux on his wheel. These are the two best-placed GC riders in the break.

I think Omrzel is riding for his own interests, but for Bisiaux, his role is more about being a satellite rider for Felix Gall.

Carapaz is still on his mission behind, but it feels a bit futile.

He's five minutes behind the break and only 22ish in front of the peloton.

Bisiaux declines to work with Omrzel.

Omrzel and Bisiaux have 17 seconds on the next group, but only the Slovenian is working.

Carapaz is caught by the GC group after a big pull from Romeo.

Enjoying our live race coverage? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for an all-access pass to our unrivalled reporting of WorldTour racing, bike tech and exclusive in-depth features. Plus, access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on-the-go!

Omrzel and Bisiaux caught. Nearly at the top now so Buitrago is winding up to score some more points.

KOM: Alto de Velefique (cat. 1)

Buitrago graps the maximum 10 points, just ahead of Lutsenko.

30km to go

The GC group catches up with Castrillo from the break, so Romeo can finally pull off. Mega ride from him.

The peloton just crested the top of the climb.

20km to go

Still descending, but the road will kick up again soon for the Calar Alto.

Big finale incoming!

EF Education-EasyPost are amassed behind Movistar in the GC group. Carapaz must be feeling good to try something again today.

Calar Alto (17.5km at 5.6%)

Onto the final climb we go!

The first section is the steepest part.

Romeo is back on the front in the GC group. What a machine.

Luke Tuckwell and Jack Haig are getting dropped from the lead group. Lutsenko too.

15km to go

The gap is still five minutes.

Buitrago is pushing the pace in the lead. Berrade is sticking with him really well, with Bisiaux and Omrzel behind.

Decathlon hit the front

The French squad are winding up the pace on the front of the GC group now as they hit the hardest part of the climb.

It's already making life difficult for Skjelmose and Kuss.

Decathlon are riding for Giro runner-up Felix Gall, who is 1:39 behind Mas overall.

Callum Scotson is setting the pace, with Riccitello and Muhlberger still there behind him so Gall has plenty of support.

But as I say that, Riccitello pulls off, he can't stay with his own team. So suddenly Gall only has Muhlberger with him.

It's only Muhlberger, Gall, Mas, Onley, Roglič and Carapaz in the GC group now.

They're still 4:35 down on the leaders with 13km to go, so it might not be a fight for the stage, but we'll see some GC action today.

Gall makes his move

Mas and Roglič are able to follow, Onley can't.

Up front, Omrzel and Berrade are dropping Bisiaux after Buitrago pulled off.

Gall is trying to get Mas to come through for a turn. Obviously he doesn't.

The gap is coming down pretty rapidly, actually, and still 12km to go. Stage win still open.

Omrzel goes solo

He dispatches with Berrade and leads by himself.

He's riding for both a stage win and a big GC gain, both of which would be massive for the 20-year-old Slovenian.

The gap is hovering at four minutes now after initially falling.

Mas attacks

Big move from the red jersey, riding away from Roglič and Gall quickly with apparent ease. Neither had anything in response.

He has a chance to really extend and solidify his GC lead here.

10km to go

Omrzel has 1:15 on Berrade, 3:50 on Mas.

Can he hold off the red jersey to take the stage win?

Real.

Mas catches up with García Pierna from the break, and hops onto his wheel for some help.

It's Gall who is doing all the work in the chase group, Roglič isn't really contributing.

Tuckwell joins Roglič in the chase. Bisiaux also comes back. So now there's a bit of an actual chase to be had.

5km to go

Mas (with García Pierna) has just under 45 seconds on Gall and Roglič.

With Tuckwell and Bisiaux there now, can he hold them off?

Omrzel is on the way to victory

García Pierna drops away, and Mas is still 3:40 down on Omrzel.

He won't make that up in 4km – the Slovenian is going to win the stage, bar disaster.

3km to go

Tuckwell, Bisiaux and Muhlberger are all there in the chase group as domestiques, and they are making gains on Mas.

It's steep again up the top. Omrzel looks so tired, but he's so close to such a special win.

2km to go

Who needs Pogačar? The Vuelta has a new Slovenian star today.

Omrzel leads by 3:22 over Mas. There are remnants of the break in between the two, so Mas is't riding for second place currently.

Mas is holding firm with a 40 second gap, the chasers' advancements have definitely stalled.

It's bare and exposed on the top of this climb. Really atmospheric and plenty of fans have made their way up.

The chasers can see Mas on these long, straight final kilometres.

Final kilometre

Omrzel is bringing it home!

Muhlberger is doing the work chasing Mas, but they're not making many inroads.

Jakob Omrzel wins stage 12!

What a HUGE result for the 20-year-old, well-earnt after a whole day in the breakaway, riding everyone off his wheel and indeed holding off none other than the race leader.

We'll have to wait to see just what gains he's made in the GC.

It's not quite clear how many riders were in between Omrzel and Mas, so not sure yet if the Spaniard will take bonus points here.

Urko Berrade takes second, Santiago Buitrago third

That's a fantastic result for Kern Pharma. And a 1-3 for Bahrain.

No bonus points for Mas, but he's still gaining a lot.

The winning moment!

Mas extends his lead

Looks like Mas finished about 30 seconds ahead of Gall and Roglič to add to his GC lead.

Onley just finished the stage, a good two minutes down on Mas.

Results

A really solid day out for Mas.

Love the confidence from Omrzel at the finish.

GC standings

Here's the new top 10.

Catch up with the full stage report here.

More on Onley's tough day today.